1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat regenerating type cooling apparatus by which a room is air-conditioned using the latent heat of fusion of a heat regenerating material. Particularly, the present invention relates to a heat regenerating type cooling apparatus suitable for air-conditioning a sleeping area in a vehicle, for example, a truck.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional heat regenerating type cooling apparatus used for air-conditioning a sleeping area of a vehicle is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 62-149509. The above conventional cooling apparatus is composed as follows. There is formed a sleeping area at the rear of a truck driver's cabin. A cooling unit is mounted on a rear wall of this sleeping area. An air suction port is provided at a lower portion of the cooling unit case, and an air outlet is provided at an upper portion of the case, and further there are provided a heat regenerator and a blower in the case.
The above heat regenerator includes a refrigerant evaporator provided in the refrigerating cycle for air-conditioning, and a heat regenerating material member which is cooled by this evaporator. This heat regenerator is operated as follows. While a truck is running, the heat regenerating material member is cooled and frozen by the action of this refrigerant evaporator. When the truck is stopped and the truck driver sleeps in the sleeping area, the blower of the cooling apparatus is set in motion and a current of air is sent into an air path formed in the heat regenerating material member so that heat can be exchanged between the heat regenerating material member and the air from the blower. The thus cooled air is blown out from an air outlet into the sleeping area.
When the above heat regenerating type cooling apparatus is put into practical use as a product, it is necessary to provide an excellent cooling performance. In order to attain the object, it is required to uniformly send air into the air path formed in the heat regenerating material portion with a low pressure loss. Further, in order to reduce the cooling time and maintain the heat preserving ability, it is necessary to enhance the heat insulating property of the cooling unit.
However, in the above patent publication in which the conventional apparatus is described, the specific means for accomplishing the above object is not disclosed.